Airchecks Archives - Page 3 of 40 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Northeast series: Drogheda radio split reaches a head in 1982 — Drogheda postcard from 1982 with the Boyneside logo (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Due to a split in the Drogheda station Boyneside Radio in July 1981, the Co. Louth town gained a second station calling itself Community Radio Drogheda (CRD). A detailed history of the split is available here but in summary, the two rival stations attempted to undercut each other for the best part of 10 months in a small town with limited advertising revenue. To complicate matters, Boyneside Radio experimented with television during this period and attempted to open another station in Navan, Co. Meath. By April 1982, the situation had reached breaking point, with CRD running out of money and DJs leaving for other stations in Dublin. After negotiations, the two camps made peace and Boyneside Radio regained its position as the sole Drogheda station in early May.

This recording from April 1982 of both Boyneside Radio and CRD was made before the merger and gives a sense of the situation at the time. First up is Owen Barry (Owen Larkin) with his lunchtime show on Boyneside, including the Angelus bell at midday. Also of interest is an advert by Fianna Fáil, as politicians would later be censured by their parties for doing interviews on pirate radio. Next up is CRD with the voices of Richard Kenny (Richard Crowley), Eddie Caffrey, Dermot Finglas and Gavin Duffy presenting a lunchtime chat show. Gavin refers to plans for a new schedule and even a public meeting to discuss the development of the service with listeners, but the writing was on the wall for CRD at that stage.

The recording of Boyneside was made on 5^th April 1982 from 98.1 FM and that of CRD on 6^th April from 1305 kHz AM, announcing 225 metres. Boyneside also announced 225 but broadcast on 1323 kHz during this time as well as FM. We have done our best during the digitisation process but audio quality is fair to poor due to cassette degradation. The tape was made by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

23rd March 202529th March 2025

Sunday afternoon on Wicklow Community Radio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Wicklow Community Radio (WCR) began broadcasting from Wicklow Town in mid-1982, emerging from a network of temporary community stations set up by the Community Broadcasting Cooperative in Dublin in the early 1980s. It relaunched as Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting (WLCB) in summer 1985, which was more commercially-oriented despite the name. A final change in July 1987 rebranded the station as Viking 105, and it continued as such until the end of 1988.

This is an airchecked recording of WCR from 1983. It begins with the end of the WCR Top 30 Show with David Byrne and is followed by Victor Ryan with Sounds Easy. There are plenty of adverts for businesses around Wicklow and reference to the Maytime festival in Newtownmountkennedy. WCR broadcast on 1512 kHz AM at the time, and station liners feature that frequency. The DJ (and marketing material above) also refers to 198.4 metres, which was unusual as metres were often rounded up or down, sometimes quite generously.

The recording was made by Kieran Murray between 1630-1730 from 1512 kHz on Sunday 1^st May 1983 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

22nd March 202519th February 2025

Northeast series: Evening shows on Radio Carousel Navan

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Radio Carousel Navan began broadcasting in early 1982 as an offshoot of the original Dundalk station, as owner Hugh Hardy expanded his regional radio network in the northeast. By 1982, there were four Carousel stations in Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan and on the border aimed at Newry. The Navan station was based in a glass kiosk in the town’s new shopping centre, so had excellent visibility for its audience.

This short airchecked recording from 1982 begins with Tina Anderson, who signs off at the end of Country Call shortly before 2000. She is followed by Robbie Byrne on his final show on the station and finally by Caroline Carter with Late Night Radio until midnight. Familiar Carousel DJs are heard voicing adverts for businesses around the town. The tape ends with the Radio Carousel theme tune Don’t Stop the Carousel by Roy Taylor and the Nevada.

The recording was made by Kieran Murray, former manager of the station, from 1386 kHz AM (announcing 210 metres) on September 22^nd 1982 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Audio quality is fair, with some cassette wobble after more than 40 years. After Hugh Hardy began winding down the Carousel network in 1987, the Navan station was the last outlet to close in 1988.

16th March 202520th February 2025

Sunday afternoon on Waterford Local Radio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Waterford Local Radio was one of the longest-running and most successful Irish pirate stations, broadcasting continuously from 1978-1988 and subsequently earning the licence for Co. Waterford. This recording is of the Frankie King Show on a Sunday afternoon in 1983. There are plenty of requests from listeners and adverts are heard for local businesses from Waterford City and beyond, including one for a WLR roadshow at a local hotel. Voices on adverts include station founder Rick Whelan and Clodagh Walsh, who went on to work as a journalist in licensed radio. News on the hour is read by Denise Wall.

This airchecked recording was made from by Kieran Murray on Sunday 24^th April 1983 between 1400 and 1600 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. 88.6 FM is noted on the cassette label but 88.8 and 100 FM were the frequencies announced by WLR at the time. The station also broadcast on 1197 kHz AM, announcing 252 metres as reflected in some of the liners in this recording.

14th March 202514th March 2025

Don Allen’s country show on ERI

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Canadian radio presenter Don Allen (RIP) was a familiar voice on Irish pirate radio in the 1980s and 1990s, where he shared his love of country music with appreciative audiences in various parts of the country stretching from Monaghan to Cork. After leaving Canada, Don worked on the offshore station Radio Caroline from 1965-1968 and later with Manx Radio and the BBC, before coming to Ireland and its growing pirate scene. He continued to broadcast on licensed station Midlands Radio 3 until his untimely death in 1995.

This recording of Don’s trademark country show on Cork station ERI in 1983 underlines his natural genius as a presenter. It was made during an outside broadcast from Kinsale before an event later that evening featuring ERI DJs. Reflecting the station’s growing popularity after its expansion earlier that year, several adverts are heard from businesses in the city and all around the county. The airchecked tape was made by Kieran Murray on Sunday 17^th July 1983 from 105.8 FM between 1713-1800 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz AM, announcing 225 metres.